Stalk-cutter.



T. Li McMINN.

STALK CUTTER. APPLICATION FILED JULY 30,1912.

1,052,839. Patented Feb. 11, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 v fiW/MJLJW%72% Inventor Attorneys T. 'L. McMINN.

STALK' CUTTER. APPLICATION FILED JULY so, 1912.

1,052,839. v Patented Feb.11, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

4 [fi by 0 4 Attorneys Wit ssss es an I 'rHoMAs L. MoMINN, or ecnrnnsvxttn amnana.

I srALK-currnn.

Specification of Letters Pa e. I Patented Feb. 11, 1 913 Application filed July 30, 1912. Serial No. 712,319.

To all whom} it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS L. MCMINN,

citizen of the United States, residing at- Guntersville, in the county of Marshall and State of Alabama, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Stalk-Gutters, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to machines for cutting stalks, its object being to provide a ma chine of this character utilizing a revolving series of cutting blades and having addi-' tional means whereby the blades are caused to reciprocate while rotating and thus have a shearing action so as to cut the stalks whether they be wet or dry.

' Another object is to provide improved means whereby the blades can be easily raised or lowered by the driver.

- Another object is to lprovide improved means for shiftin the stalks into the path of the cuttin bla es.

With the 'oregoing and other objects inview which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in. the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed it being understood that .changes in the prec1se embodiment of the invention herein disclosed, can be made '30 departing from the spirit of the invention.

within the scope of what is claimed, without In the accompanying drawings the preferred form of the invention has been shown.

In said drawings :-Figure 1 is .a plan frame are inclined downwardly andrear- 'wardlyi) as shown at 4, and are loosely engaged y the terminal ortions of. spindles 5 of an arched axle 6, t ere being supporting wheels 7 mounted beyond the sides of the frame 4 and engaging the spindles 5, each of these wheels being refera 1y formed with an annular flange 8 or engaging the ound so as to prevent the machine from s ifting laterally. e

Mounted on the intermediate portion of the arched axle and between the spindles 5 are star wheels 9 each of which has ,a central opening 10 sufiiciently large to. permit the wheel to he slipped around'the elbows of the arched axle and into position upon the intermediate portion ,of the axle. Seated Y within these openings 10 are split hubs 11 having oppositely extending ears 12.which are bolted or otherwise secured to the star wheels and these hubs are adapted to rotate freely on the axle. The arms of the star wheels are connected by radially disposed cutting blades 13 having straight cutting edges.- Any desired number of these blades.

may be used.

.Secured to the outer face of each star wheel is a cam ring 14, the two rings'being oppositely. disposed andbeing adapted to engage anti-friction rollers 15 carried by brackets 16 which are secured to the axle '6 and. close to the spindles 5. As these cam rings 14 are oppositely disposed, it will be apparent'that, as the cutting blades and star wheels rotate upon the axle 6, the cam rings, by engaging the rollers 15, will cause the cutting blades 13 to reciprocatetransversely of the machine. By using cam rings such as shown in the drawings, the'cutting'blades will move once to the right and once to the left during eachv complete rotation of the star wheels about the axle. It is to be understood,'however, that by varying the shape of the cam rings, one or. more additional reciprocations of the knives or cutting blades can be produced during each rotation of the star wheels.

An arcuate guard plate 17 is mounted on and extends rearwardly from the frame 3 and may be held, at its rear end, by braces 18. .{tlhe seat 19 of the driver is supported above the guard plate 17. A foot lever 20 is plvotally mounted, asat 21, in front of the seat 19 and is connected, as b means of one ormore chains 22, to drag r0 s 23 which are pivotally connected to hangers 24 and extend downwardly so a to engage the round. A spring catch 25 is arranged ad- -3acent the foot lever 20 and, by pressing thislever downwardly into engagement with the catch, the dra rods 23 wfillbe elevated out of contact wit the groundand held in such osition. When, however, the foot lever 20 is released, the dra rods will gravitate into engagement with t e ground.

An adjusting lever 26 is fixedly connected to one of the spindles 5 of the'axle' and is provided with v a spring pressed 27 adapted to engage atoothed segment 2$: and thus hold the lever and-axle in any position to which they may be shifted.

i In using the. machinethe drag rods 23 are lowered and will, when moving along the ground, pullthe stalks into the path of the cutting blades 13. These blades, as they r rotate, will cut into, the stalks and slide transversely of the machine so asto produce a shearing action and Insure severing the stalks whether they bewet or dry. When it.

is desired to lift the blades out of-contact with the stalks, lever '26 is shifted so as to rotate the arched axle and swing its intermediate portion upwardly. By pushing downwardly on the footlever 20,"the ldrag rods 23 can be elevated out of contactwith the ground, as vh'ereinbefore described: It is to be understood that, if desired, the

hangers 24 maybe eliminated and'the drag rods 23 can be pivotally connected directly to the tongue 2. Furthermore, if desired, a guard plate may be placed over the'rol'lers 15 so as to prevent trash and the like fi'om falling thereonto and causing them to wear. quickly. a It is not thought that pillustratiolr of this plate, is necessary.

What is claimed is Q 1. A stalk, cutter including a wheel supported structure having an arched axle, a reyoluble series of cutting blades supported by the axle, means for reciprocating the blades transversely of the structure during the rotation of the blades, and means forrotat-ing the axle to adjust the blades vertically.

2. Astalk cutter including a wheel supported structure having an axle, a ievoluble series of cutting blades mounted on the axle,

codperating means upon the blades and axle and revoluble with the blades for reciproeating all of the blades in unison. transversely ohthestructur during-the rotation of-the'bladesa v 3.- A stalk cutter. including a wheel sup 1 ported structure having an arched axle, a

revoluble series of cutting blades mounted on theaxle, cotiperating means upon the blades and axle and revoluble with the blades for reciprocating the blades trans A stalk cutter including a wheel sup ported structure having an arched axle,

wheels mounted for rotation on the axle, cutting blades connecting the wheels, cams revoluble with the wheels, ineans on the axle and cooperating with the cams for reciprocating the blades transversely of the structure during the rotation of the wheels on the axle, and means for rotating the axle to elevate the blades.

I .In testimony whereof I aihx my signature in presence of two witnesses.

THOS; L. MCMINN.

l Vit-nesses W. Smiaono, JIM DANGETTE.

- Copies of this patent may be obtained; for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

